The English Flag
Winds of the World, give answer! They are whimpering to and fro —
And what should they know of England who only England know? —
The poor little street-bred people that vapour and fume and brag,
They are lifting their heads in the stillness to yelp at the English Flag!
Must we borrow a clout from the Boer — to plaster anew with dirt?
An Irish liar's bandage, or an English coward's shirt?
We may not speak of England; her Flag's to sell or share.
What is the Flag of England? Winds of the World, declare!
The North Wind blew: — " From Bergen my steel-shod vanguards go;
" I chase your lazy whalers home from the Disko floe.
" By the great North Lights above me I work the will of God,
" And the liner splits on the ice-field or the Dogger fills with cod.
" I barred my gates with iron, I shuttered my doors with flame,
" Because to force my ramparts your nutshell navies came.
" I took the sun from their presence, I cut them down with my blast,
" And they died, but the Flag of England blew free ere the spirit passed.
" The lean white bear hath seen it in the long, long Arctic nights,
" The musk-ox knows the standard that flouts the Northern Lights:
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my bergs to dare,
" Ye have but my drifts to conquer. Go forth, for it is there! "
The South Wind sighed: — " From the Virgins my mid-sea course was ta'en
" Over a thousand islands lost in an idle main,
" Where the sea-egg flames on the coral and the long-backed breakers croon
" Their endless ocean legends to the lazy, locked lagoon.
" Strayed amid lonely islets, mazed amid outer keys,
" I waked the palms to laughter — I tossed the scud in the breeze.
" Never was isle so little, never was sea so lone,
" But over the scud and the palm-trees an English flag was flown.
" I have wrenched it free from the halliards to hang for a wisp on the Horn;
" I have chased it north to the Lizard — ribboned and rolled and torn;
" I have spread its folds o'er the dying, adrift in a hopeless sea;
" I have hurled it swift on the slaver, and seen the slave set free.
" My basking sunfish know it, and wheeling albatross,
" Where the lone wave fills with fire beneath the Southern Cross.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my reefs to dare,
" Ye have but my seas to furrow. Go forth, for it is there! "
The East Wind roared: — " From the Kuriles, the Bitter Seas, I come,
" And me men call the Home-Wind, for I bring the English home.
" Look — look well to your shipping! By the breath of my mad typhoon
" I swept your close-packed Praya and beached your best at Kowloon!
" The reeling junks behind me and the racing seas before,
" I raped your richest roadstead — I plundered Singapore!
" I set my hand on the Hoogli; as a hooded snake she rose;
" And I flung your stoutest steamers to roost with the startled crows.
" Never the lotos closes, never the wild-fowl wake,
" But a soul goes out on the East Wind that died for England's sake —
" Man or woman or suckling, mother or bride or maid —
" Because on the bones of the English the English Flag is stayed.
" The desert-dust hath dimmed it, the flying wild-ass knows,
" The scared white leopard winds it across the taintless snows.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my sun to dare,
" Ye have but my sands to travel. Go forth, for it is there! "
The West Wind called: — " In squadrons the thoughtless galleons fly
" That bear the wheat and cattle lest street-bred people die.
" They make my might their porter, they make my house their path,
" Till I loose my neck from their rudder and whelm them all in my wrath.
" I draw the gliding fog-bank as a snake is drawn from the hole.
" They bellow one to the other, the frighted ship-bells toll;
" For day is a drifting terror till I raise the shroud with my breath,
" And they see strange bows above them and the two go locked to death.
" But whether in calm or wrack-wreath, whether by dark or day,
" I heave them whole to the conger or rip their plates away,
" First of the scattered legions, under a shrieking sky,
" Dipping between the rollers, the English Flag goes by.
" The dead dumb fog hath wrapped it — the frozen dews have kissed —
" The naked stars have seen it, a fellow-star in the mist.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my breath to dare,
" Ye have but my waves to conquer. Go forth, for it is there! "
And what should they know of England who only England know? —
The poor little street-bred people that vapour and fume and brag,
They are lifting their heads in the stillness to yelp at the English Flag!
Must we borrow a clout from the Boer — to plaster anew with dirt?
An Irish liar's bandage, or an English coward's shirt?
We may not speak of England; her Flag's to sell or share.
What is the Flag of England? Winds of the World, declare!
The North Wind blew: — " From Bergen my steel-shod vanguards go;
" I chase your lazy whalers home from the Disko floe.
" By the great North Lights above me I work the will of God,
" And the liner splits on the ice-field or the Dogger fills with cod.
" I barred my gates with iron, I shuttered my doors with flame,
" Because to force my ramparts your nutshell navies came.
" I took the sun from their presence, I cut them down with my blast,
" And they died, but the Flag of England blew free ere the spirit passed.
" The lean white bear hath seen it in the long, long Arctic nights,
" The musk-ox knows the standard that flouts the Northern Lights:
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my bergs to dare,
" Ye have but my drifts to conquer. Go forth, for it is there! "
The South Wind sighed: — " From the Virgins my mid-sea course was ta'en
" Over a thousand islands lost in an idle main,
" Where the sea-egg flames on the coral and the long-backed breakers croon
" Their endless ocean legends to the lazy, locked lagoon.
" Strayed amid lonely islets, mazed amid outer keys,
" I waked the palms to laughter — I tossed the scud in the breeze.
" Never was isle so little, never was sea so lone,
" But over the scud and the palm-trees an English flag was flown.
" I have wrenched it free from the halliards to hang for a wisp on the Horn;
" I have chased it north to the Lizard — ribboned and rolled and torn;
" I have spread its folds o'er the dying, adrift in a hopeless sea;
" I have hurled it swift on the slaver, and seen the slave set free.
" My basking sunfish know it, and wheeling albatross,
" Where the lone wave fills with fire beneath the Southern Cross.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my reefs to dare,
" Ye have but my seas to furrow. Go forth, for it is there! "
The East Wind roared: — " From the Kuriles, the Bitter Seas, I come,
" And me men call the Home-Wind, for I bring the English home.
" Look — look well to your shipping! By the breath of my mad typhoon
" I swept your close-packed Praya and beached your best at Kowloon!
" The reeling junks behind me and the racing seas before,
" I raped your richest roadstead — I plundered Singapore!
" I set my hand on the Hoogli; as a hooded snake she rose;
" And I flung your stoutest steamers to roost with the startled crows.
" Never the lotos closes, never the wild-fowl wake,
" But a soul goes out on the East Wind that died for England's sake —
" Man or woman or suckling, mother or bride or maid —
" Because on the bones of the English the English Flag is stayed.
" The desert-dust hath dimmed it, the flying wild-ass knows,
" The scared white leopard winds it across the taintless snows.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my sun to dare,
" Ye have but my sands to travel. Go forth, for it is there! "
The West Wind called: — " In squadrons the thoughtless galleons fly
" That bear the wheat and cattle lest street-bred people die.
" They make my might their porter, they make my house their path,
" Till I loose my neck from their rudder and whelm them all in my wrath.
" I draw the gliding fog-bank as a snake is drawn from the hole.
" They bellow one to the other, the frighted ship-bells toll;
" For day is a drifting terror till I raise the shroud with my breath,
" And they see strange bows above them and the two go locked to death.
" But whether in calm or wrack-wreath, whether by dark or day,
" I heave them whole to the conger or rip their plates away,
" First of the scattered legions, under a shrieking sky,
" Dipping between the rollers, the English Flag goes by.
" The dead dumb fog hath wrapped it — the frozen dews have kissed —
" The naked stars have seen it, a fellow-star in the mist.
" What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my breath to dare,
" Ye have but my waves to conquer. Go forth, for it is there! "
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